Hosiery manufacture



Aug. 1 1, 1925. 1,549,307

E. A. HIRNER HO 5 I ERY MANUFACTURE Fiied oct, 9, 1922 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 U/VDVED WITNESSES: 1N VEN TOR:

A TTORNEYS.

Aug. 11, 1925. 1,549,307 E. A. HIRNER HOS IERY MANUFACTURE Filed Oct. 9, 1922 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 WITNESSES: 1 N V EN TOR:

ATTORNEYS.

Patented Aug. 11, 1925.

- UNITED STATEfi EMIL A. HIRNEB, O'F ALLENTOWN, PENNSYLVANIA.

HOSIERY MANUFACTURE.

Application filed October 9, 1922.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, EMIL A. HIRNER, a citizen of the United States, residing at Allentown, in the county of Lehigh and State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Hosiery Manufacture, whereof the following is a specification, reference being had to the accompanying drawings.

My invention relates to the manufacture of hosiery and its most important objects are first, to enable production of stockings conforming more perfectly to the shape or contour of the human foot than those produced under methods heretofore practiced witha view to assuring utmost ease'to the wearer, and secondly, in cases where the requirement is for hosiery with foot portions of undyed or uncolored yarn, to enable the instep to be carried down well into the foot portion to the end of preventing the undyed portion of the fabric from appearing above the tops of low shoes.

Other objects and attendant advantages of my invention will become apparent from a detailed description thereof which follows, while its scope will in turn be clearly manifestfrom the appended claims.

In the drawings Fig. I represents diagrammatically in outline, a stocking knit in accordance with my invention, and, Fig. II, is a slight modification produced by an alternative intermediate step ,in the knitting process. While I have shown in this connection illustrations of half-hose, it will be understood from subsequent disclosure that my invention is equally and with corresponding advantages applicable to the manufacture of long, and ladies hosiery. The stockings herein shown may be produced as integral structures upon a circular knitting machine of the type ordinarily employed in seamless hosiery production, and, for the purposes of exemplification herein, the stockings will be described as having been produced on one of the machines of said type and with the assumption that 228 needles represent the full complement employed in each instance.

Referring first to the type illustrated in Fig. I, 1 designates comprehensively, the leg portion of the stocking which is ordinarily knit with dyed or colored yarn, andas is usual with half-hose, comprises a ribbed top 2, shown as terminating along .cordance with previous methods.

Serial No. 598,213.

a line 33. Beyond this line, the lower portion of the stocking leg is produced by plain round and round knitting until the line 4567 is reached. At this time a portion of the full complement of the knitting needles are withdrawn from action (preferably half or those which knit the instep) to permit production by oscillatory knitting, of the heel pocket 458 for which, and preferably for the remainder of the foot, I use undyed or uncolored yarn when commercial demands require it. The last mentioned portion of the stocking is knit by narrowing and widening upon say 35 needles at opposite ends of the active set, with incidental formation of a suture 5-9 at each side of. the structure. The knitting is thus brought down to a line 8567 and upon completion of the heel pocket as described, I proceed by widening beyond the inner ends 5 of the sutures say upon 25 needles of the instep set at each side of the stocking with resultant production directly adjacent the heel and along the sole, of an arch gusset 8-5610 -11. In bringing the 25 needles just referred to into action on each side of the stocking, it will of course require just double the number or specifically 5O reciprocations or oscillations of the knitting machine. As a consequence of this, there are twice as many wales produced in the arch usset as in the corresponding width of t e fabric in the leg portion, or in other words, there is a pair of wales of the arch gusset .web united to each of the wales of the leg portion along the sutures 5-6, (which, it will be observed, are virtually prolongations of the sutures 59) the latter wales in accommodating themselves to the condition imposed, gradually dilating through the extent of a number of courses in the after or lower part of the leg portion and in a direction toward the suture. Such dilation results inthe characterization of the stocking with a novel appearance whereby it may be readily distinguished, in connection with other outstanding features yet to be described, from those manufactured in ac- In proceeding with the knitting of the stocking structure after completion of the arch sset, I withdraw from action in the nelghborhood of 14c needles at each side of the stocking (at the ends of the active needle gusset 11-10-612.

tion or variation in the method of groups just described) and in subsequentl widening upon them produce an addition gusset 11-10612' with incidental for mation of sutures 610, as segmental continuations of the sutures 956. It is to be noted that these continuations take a position at an abrupt angle in retroversion relative .to the main portions of the sutures. Round and round knitting is thereupon again resumed beginning with the line 12 6-7 and continued throughout the foot portion of the stocking to the line 13-14-15, when oscillatory knitting is once more resorted to for production of a toe pocket 16 which may be produced in any ap ropriate manner and with the knitting 0 whichthe present invention is not especially concerned. It is worthy of note at this point that the le portion 1-of my novel stocking above t e lines 4567 is knit with dyed or colored yarn; whereas the entire foot part below said line, to and including the toe Socket 16, is knit from undyed or uncolore yarn.

By virtue of the interposition of the arch sset 8-5-61011 between the heel and oot pro r-, it will be observed that the instep of t e stocking is drawn well down into the foot portion thereby avoiding the possibility of the undyed portions of the foot from ap earing beyond or above the tops of low s oes. The presence of said archglsset also tends to amplify considerabl e length of the stocking sole thereby'a fording a correspondingly greater degree of comfort to the wearer, and assists in disposing the foot portion of the stockin more nearly at right angles to the leg thereby giving the stocking a contour approachin closely the relatio of the human foot an leg, and the con itions last stated are enhanced by the addition of the supplemental The stocking structure shown in Fig; II is very similar to that previously described and may be produced by a slight-modifiesrooe ure, and the features which are identical to those of the first form are accordingly identified with the same reference characters. The knitting of the leg portion 1, the heel 4, 5, 8, and the arch sset 8, 5, 6 and 11 is effected down to the line 7, 6, 11 in the manner already understood. From' this point on, however, instead of throwing out of action the fourteen needles at each side of the active series, as in the previous instance, I

immediately narrow u on a similar number of needles with resultmg production of the guhxiiliary or additional gusset ll, 6, '10,- 12. 'very similar to'the gusset off the t, aswillbe-at once alggtrenulis form, the onl difference being the-direction taken y the suture prolongation 6-10 whichnow makes an obtuseangle with re* heel suture to produce an arc "Lhasa? spect to the suture 5, 6-, instead of an acute 7 angle as before. The auxiliary or additional gusset 1161012 of the modification affords the same advantages described in connection with the one of the first form.

The remainder ofv the foot portion of the stocking be ond the line 7 610'--12 is knit precise y as before and therefore need not be again described'in detail.

It is of course to be understood, that the numbers herein given with regard to the scribed are for purposes of exemplification only and that they are subject to indefinite variation in practice. v I

Having-thus described my-invention, I claim: p v

1. The method of manufacturing hosiery which consists in knittinga leg portion fashioning a heel pocket by narrowing and widening upon a portion of the knittin needles; continuing the widening beyon the heel suture to produce an arch gusset adjacent the heel-and along the sole of the stocking foot; manipulating a suitable number of the fashioning needles to produce a supplemental instep gusset in forward (prolongation 'of the arch gusset'aforesai to cause the foot portion ofastocking to be drawn more'nearly at right angles to the leg portion; and thereupon knitting the remainder of the foot in continuation.

2. The method of manufacturing hosiery which consists in knitting a leg fashioning a heel pocket by narnowmg and widening upon a portion of the knitting needles; continuing the widenin beyond the.

gusset adjacent the heel and along the sole of the stocking foot; withdrawing a number of the needles at each end of the complement thus far active in fashioning and subsequently widening upon said needles to produce an additional gusset in prolongation of'the arch gusset aforesaid to cause the foot portion of the stocking to bevdrawn more nearly at right angles to the leg portion; and thereupon kmtting the remainder of the foot incontinuation. a

3. The method of manufacturing hosiery which consists in knitting a leg portion wi dyed or colored yarn; substituting an -un-' used and fashioning a heel pocket by narrowing and widenin on a portion of the knitting needles; wi enin beyond the heel the heel pocket along the s e of the foot; withdrawing a number at each end of the rtion;

colored or undyed yarn for'that previously n suture to produce an arc gusset adjacent v complement thus far active and subsequently widening upon said needles-to produce j an additional gusset in prolongation of the 'arch, gusset aforesaid to cause the; foot portion ofthestockingto be drawn more nearly at right angles to the leg portion; and thereupon knitting the remainder of the foot in continuation.

4. As an article of manufacture, a stocking' of the type described characterized by sutures extending diagonally of the heel to a medial point at each side of the stocking with segmental prolongations continuing to points at opposite sides'of the instep, and

further angularly disposed continuations terminating at points approximately in the medial lines at opposite sides of the stocking foot, said continuations being defined by a supplemental instep gusset that aids in disposing the foot and leg portions at right angles toone another.

5. As an article of manufacture, a stocking of the typedescribed characterizedvby sutures extending diagonally of the heel to a medial point at each side of the stocking with segmental prolongations continuing to points at opposite sides of the instep, and further continuations terminating in points approximately in the medial lines at opposite sides of the stocking foot, said continuations being defined by a supplemental instep gusset that aids in disposing the foot and leg portions at right angles to one another. In testimony whereof, I have hereunto signed my name at Allentown, Pennsylvania, this 30th day of September, 1922.

EMIL A. HIRNER.

Witnesses:

HORACE O. WARMKESSEL, VALENTINE GULDIN. 

